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ScanSnap EN after upgrade to Catalina


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OK, so I knew things were going to be different going into this, so that's all fine. I went through the process of updating the firmware, making my SnanSnap EN Edition into a ScanSnap ix500. The process went pretty smoothly. So far, I have skipped the step of scanning to the ScanSnap Cloud because I really only want to use the scanner with Evernote. I created a "profile" for Evernote, adjusted the settings, and it seems to be working as advertised.

The default workflow I utilized before upgrading to Catalina was to use the ScanSnap Manager Evernote Edition software (formal name) to select the type of document (never felt like I could trust the auto detect), then hit the button on the scanner to scan. 95% of my scans were as documents (not receipts, photos, etc.) and I settled on preferring the JPG version over PDF for the simple reason that making quick adjustments after a scan (namely, rotating misaligned pages and deleting unwanted pages) was far, far easier for JPG vs. PDF in the Mac Evernote client; those functions could be accomplished directly in the client without opening the file in another application, like Preview.

As far as I can tell right now, there is no way to reproduce this workflow because the new (to me) ScanSnap Home software creates separate notes when JPG is chosen as the file type. So my question is this: Is there any way/workaround for me to regain my preferred workflow functionality? I guess merging notes once they are scanned is one option, but the Mac client is not very good at doing that in a predictable way.

Oh yeah, one more related question (that I think I already know the unfortunate answer to, also): Is there a way to have scans of different types (documents, receipts, etc.) automatically routed to specified notebooks in Evernote, which was a feature of the old software?

Thanks in advance for your responses and ideas!
 

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The JPEG format is a photo format, and does not support multiple pages. In general it is a bad choice to scan documents (=text), because the compression algorithm of JPEG creates blurry edges around the letters. This is not good for OCR.

With JPEG ScanSnap Home will create a new note per page. With pdf there is the option to create a single, multipage document from all pages scanned together.

Frankly I do not understand your problem. My ix500 feeds the pages right through, straightens them if they are a bit off and creates very good, already OCRed pdf documents. Unless I scan a photo, I would never bother with JPEGs.

Fujitsu released a first 64bit-version of the ScanSnap Manger a short time ago. This does run under Catalina, offering additional options compared to ScanSnap Home. However I would not install it yet, because this first release can't address cloud services like EN. A future release will cover this, and I decided to wait until then.

 

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Thanks for the reply! In doing my research, I saw you posting a lot and my inclination was to just send a message to you, so I am glad your replied. 🙂

So my problem (if you want to call it that) doesn't have anything to do with the scanner. It feeds pages through just fine and the scans look good. Let me try to explain with an example.

Source: a 10-page document printed on 8.5x11 white paper that has printed text on one side of all sheets and the second side of some. Some of the pages also have hand-written notes written in the margins. One last wrinkle is that a few of the pages are oriented in landscape (graphs with images and text).

I know there is an option for the scanner to either scan simplex or duplex, so I'd have it in duplex. An additional setting allows the software to ignore blank pages, which I also have enabled. There's also the option for auto rotation, which I'd have enabled, too.

If the scanner was flawless in matching my expectations, the PDF scan would be perfect: all blank pages ignored and landscape sheets oriented properly in the scan. However, the reality is that sometimes adjustments are required. In this case, maybe a few of the blank pages have stray marks that the scanner interprets as a non-blank page and some of the landscape images aren't recognized and correctly properly. I should note that I do NOT expect the software to be flawless in this regard and fully expect some manual adjustments like this after any scan.

So here's my "problem": On a Mac, once the PDF shows up in the Evernote client, the only way that I know of to make adjustments (delete the blank pages and rotate a few pages) is to open the PDF in Preview, make the changes, then save the file. I used to do this, and it works. However, when I was able to scan multiple-pages into a single note in JPG format, I could accomplish those changes by editing the note directly in the Evernote client. So I am talking about an extra step (opening and processing in Preview) that takes me and my computer extra time. Poor me, right? LOL I just got used to the convenience of the JPG scans. But you make excellent points about the differences between JPG and PDF.

I really appreciate any further comments/ideas you might have! I am really not upset by any of this, just trying to re-establish a workflow that meets my needs. Also, I like talking about these things with fellow enthusiasts. And thank you for the tip on the new 64-bit version of the ScanSnap Manager, which I will hold off on for now, as you suggested.

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Oh yeah, any thoughts/ideas on scanning to a specific notebook? I used to scan to different notebooks for documents, receipts, photos, etc. but now I don't think that's possible. Thanks again!

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My re-workflow is like this:

  1. Scan as pdf, save to EN directly (AFAIK no choice of notebook in ScanSnap Home)
  2. Open the note, right click on the pdf header, open with - I use PDF Expert to edit pdfs, but Preview should do as well
  3. Do the editing (deleting empty pages, or rotate are common jobs for me as well)
  4. Close the pdf window (no need to save) - this will (usually) save the changes back to the pdf inside of the note
  5. Closing the note will save the changes in EN, and sync to the server
  6. Assign tags to the note, move to the right notebook

Some pdfs will not allow for editing, here a copy will be created, that must be saved. The fastest way is to save to desktop, and then drag the file into the note in EN. But normally it works by just closing the window, not going through a save-process.

On my iPhone I use ScannerPro. It has workflows that do automatic tagging and notebook-assignment with one click. The workflows need to be created first, but this is a one-timer. ScannerPro allows to edit the pdf directly on the phone (which is o.k. for deleting or rotating pages, less for real edits), and does its own OCR. For up to 10 pages it is a good alternative for the ix500.

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2 hours ago, MrKarst said:

delete the blank pages

Don't know if the SN software is the same as on an s1300i, but there is an option to drop blank pages.  Doesn't always work though but does sometimes.

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2 hours ago, MrKarst said:

Oh yeah, any thoughts/ideas on scanning to a specific notebook?

If you use the import folders option of EN you can designate the notebook.  As opposed to direct to EN.  Windows anyway.

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It is similar, but will often not exclude a page that is in fact empty.

A shade of text from the other side, a few spots of tint, a little content like a code printed to the page - and the empty page will stay in the document. There is no control to reduce sensitivity.

Import folders are not an option on the Mac. You could use Automator or scripting, but the problem is where does the sorting information come from ? If it is one folder, all goes to the same notebook. If it is several folders, you need several profiles and switch between them while scanning. Because the scanner is so fast, it is more feasible to send them all to the default notebook, and do the sorting later inside of EN.

 

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2 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

It is similar, but will often not exclude a page that is in fact empty.

A shade of text from the other side, a few spots of tint, a little content like a code printed to the page - and the empty page will stay in the document. There is no control to reduce sensitivity

My experience as well.  IAC, I'm lazy to the point of just leaving any blank pages that get scanned in the PDF.  Not worth the effort to me to remove them.  I will remove them however should I send the PDF to someone.

7 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Import folders are not an option on the Mac. You could use Automator or scripting, but the problem is where does the sorting information come from ? If it is one folder, all goes to the same notebook. If it is several folders, you need several profiles and switch between them while scanning. Because the scanner is so fast, it is more feasible to send them all to the default notebook, and do the sorting later inside of EN.

I was responding to the OPs request.  I scan everything to an import folder which is linked to a local notebook called Scans.  I use four different "scan button settings" of my own (simplex, duplex, separate, picture) all pointing to the same folder.  That way I have a clearing house so as to not lose sight of the notes.  Just like my INBOX notebook from there I can tag, change the title if I want and move to the notebook of record.  FWIW.

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18 minutes ago, MrKarst said:

I am going to play around with some things based on what I've learned from your posts, then I will report back my results. Thanks to you both!

You are welcome.  Hope you land on something that works for you.

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OK, I am still tinkering with things, but here's one I just stumbled across that's a moderate annoyance: Apparently, the maximum length (in the direction of the feed) is limited to 14.17 inches?! I know for a fact that before this update I was able to scan much longer documents (for example, lots of receipts are much longer than this), although it required a long press on the scan button. Actually, I didn't try that, so let me pause in typing here and give it a shot.

To my surprise and delight, it worked! I wonder why the dimension setting in the software indicates 14.17" as the maximum then? If you want to look at the setting I'm talking about, edit the profile, click on "Option..." to the right of "Feed", then "Customize..." to the right of "Document size". Weird.

OK, back to tinkering!

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Just as a random contribution - I'm currently allowing Filterize to tag and sort my notes into the appropriate notebook based on keywords or titles. I just clip, drop or scan a new note and let the software sort it out.  There's (obviously) a learning period where you need to check each day's new notes to see if they've all been assigned,  and are set up correctly,  but it seems to be working pretty well for me now. 

The trick is to set up a "Parameterisation" control note containing a table with Content (or Title), Tag and Notebook columns.  When filterize 'sees' the content/ title keywords it will apply the tag(s) in that relative column and move the note to the specified notebook. 

Bit of a pig to get that working right the first time,  but when it is,  all you need to do is add another line to the table to handle new requirements.

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  • 8 months later...

Update several months later: As suggested, I am now happily scanning everything as PDF, which works fine. However, there is still one thing I wish I could do like I used to and that is to put a stack of receipts in the feeder for the scanner, tell the software that I am scanning receipts, then hit the button once and make a separate note in EN for each receipt. I am currently scanning each receipt individually, but the old software worked that way by default and now I can't seem to figure out a way to do it. I know I could scan into the ScanSnap client as a receipt and maybe that would create separate files, but I don't want my documents anywhere except for EN. To be clear, I don't have any problem with them existing in other places, but if I can't get them in EN, then I'm not interested.

I hope this makes sense and I look forward to any further thoughts or suggestions!

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Currently there is an option to create a new document from each scan, or one for the stack of paper. The first doesn’t work for me, because sometimes the receipt runs for more than one page. The rework creates more hassle than it solves.

For a few pages I often use my iPhone. This is more efficient than starting the ix-scanner altogether.

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Thanks for the reply. I thought I tried the option that's supposed to create separate notes for each page and it didn't seem to work, but I'll give it another look. I also scan certain types of documents using my iPhone. I use Scannable, although it has a glitch with setting the crop boundaries that annoys me (and which I reported and they replied and said they know about it... which was nearly a year ago now). If you have any other suggestions, I''m all ears. Thanks again!

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